Why isn't everyone lifelong learning?

Andrew Bollington, Global Head of Research and Learning, LEGO Foundation

"There are many opportunities for lifelong learning available at the click of a button, so why is it that many employers still report a 'skills gap'?"

Andrew BollingtonGlobal Head of Research and LearningLEGO Foundation

It’s a well-trodden path to observe that the school systems of today are not preparing children for the jobs of today, let alone tomorrow. But what changes to our school systems are necessary to address this challenge?

For centuries, schools have been focused on content–to be educated is to be knowledgeable, and to be knowledgeable you have to know a lot. Yet the 21st century has transformed our access to content. In just 20 years, the content of the best libraries has been made available to us through the internet and on mobile devices in a matter of seconds. What’s more, it has been enhanced by videos and interactive learning materials to enable us to engage with that knowledge more easily. Want a university level course on, say, “understanding the neurobiology of everyday life” or “the role of global capital markets”? They are available free and now, provided you have access to a computer (visit www.coursera.org).

The pace and volume of change in just about every major discipline means that lifelong learning is no longer an option, but absolutely essential. However excellent your education was at school, within a few years of entering the workforce, a gap will be opening up between what you need to know, what has recently been discovered, and what you were taught while at school.

There are many opportunities for lifelong learning available at the click of a button, so why is it that many employers still report a “skills gap” when looking for talented members of the workforce?

Taking advantage of lifelong learning opportunities demands certain skills. We need to be motivated to learn, without the constant supervision and support of a teacher. We need to be able to ask questions and relate the knowledge gained to real-life challenges. We need to stick at the challenge even when the work gets hard. We need to be prepared to try something; fail; adapt; then try again until it works. We need to network with other students, sometimes virtually, often across cultures. We need to critically analyse and evaluate the content we find in seconds on the internet, not memorise it. We need to play creatively with ideas and solutions.

Lifelong learning does not begin when you leave school. There is a growing understanding that the gap between the outputs of our education system and the needs of employers are not a failure of the last few years of formal schooling alone, but the cumulative consequence of years of education built upon a foundation set down in early childhood. In other words, the problem–and the answer–starts early. The youngest children have an in-built curiosity to learn and ask questions, to learn through play. When a toddler repeatedly asks “why” or works with other children to create a city using building blocks, they are setting down the basic foundations of inquiry-based, active learning. They are learning by asking their own questions rather than learning rote answers to other people’s questions. This is the foundation of lifelong learning, an approach that should continue throughout school, not stop at the kindergarten.

Being educated is no longer about how much you know, but about having the skills and motivation for lifelong learning so that you can learn new knowledge whenever you need to. It is time to reduce the content demands of national curriculum, and to encourage schools to use some of the time saved to focus on developing the skills for lifelong learning. It is time to measure school success not just by children’s ability to answers exam questions, but also by the extent to which children demonstrate a passion and capability for lifelong learning based around their own questions and challenges. If we did that, then we could have confidence that our schools are preparing children for the jobs of tomorrow–and through our own lifelong learning, we might all know more as well!

Twitter feed

Suscribe now

Don't miss

Africa's cities at the forefront of progress: Africa is urbanising at a historically rapid pace coupled with an unprecedented demographic
boom. By 2050, about 56% of Africans are expected to live in cities. This poses major policy challenges, but make no mistake: Africa’s cities and towns are engines of progress that, if harnessed correctly, can fuel the entire continent’s sustainable development.

“Nizip” refugee camp visit
July 2016: OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría visits the “Nizip” refugee camp, situated between Gaziantep and the Turkish-Syrian border, accompanied by Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek. The camp accommodates a small number of the 2.75 million Syrians currently registered in Turkey, mostly outside the camps. In his tour of the camp, Mr Gurría visits a school, speaks with refugees and gives a short interview.

OECD Observer i-Sheet Series:
OECD Observer i-Sheets are smart contents pages on major issues and events. Use them to find current or recent articles, video, books and working papers. To browse on paper and read on line, or simply download.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands gives a speech next to Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto (not pictured) during the International Forum of Financial Inclusion at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico June 21, 2016.

How sustainable is the ocean as a source of economic development?The Ocean Economy in 2030 examines the risks and uncertainties surrounding the future development of ocean industries, the innovations required in science and technology to support their progress, their potential contribution to green growth and some of the implications for ocean management.

OECD Environment Director Simon Upton presented a talk at Imperial College London on 21 April 2016. With the world awash in surplus oil and prices languishing around US$40 per barrel, how can governments step up efforts to transform the world’s energy systems in line with the Paris Agreement?

The OECD Gender Initiative examines existing barriers to gender equality in education, employment, and entrepreneurship. The gender portal monitors the progress made by governments to promote gender equality in both OECD and non-OECD countries and provides good practices based on analytical tools and reliable data.

If we want to reach zero net emissions by the end of the century, we must align our policies for a low-carbon economy, put a price on carbon everywhere, spend less subsidising fossil fuels and invest more in clean energy. OECD at #COP21 – OECD statement for #COP21

They are green and local --It’s a new generation of entrepreneurs in Kenya with big dreams of sustainable energy and the drive to see their innovative technologies throughout Africa. blogs.worldbank.org

Pole to Paris Project

In order to face global warming, Asia needs at least $40 billion per year, derived from both the public and private sector. Read how to bridge the climate financing gap on the Asian Bank of Development's website.

Climate: What's changed, what hasn't, what we can do about it.
Lecture by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, hosted by the London School of Economics and Aviva Investors in association with ClimateWise, London, UK, 3 July 2015.

Is inequality bad for growth? That redistribution boosts economies is not established by the evidence says FT economics editor Chris Giles. Read more on www.ft.com.

Interested in a career in Paris at the OECD? The OECD is a major international organisation, with a mission to build better policies for better lives. With our hub based in one of the world's global cities and offices across continents, find out more at www.oecd.org/careers .